School shoes – why you should pay for quality.

School shoes are quite an emotive subject. Some parents disapprove at being “forced” to purchase these, or, being made to “conform”. Many however believe in them. They feel it promotes inclusion and equality, reducing peer pressure in the playground. Generally a full uniform can be purchased relatively cheaply from various outlets with most supermarkets promoting multi-buy deals to ease the pain. Paying less for the clothing part is great, after all, growing room in a jumper or trousers cannot have any ill affects of a child’s health or cause discomfort.

The same cannot be said for cheaply made or ill-fitting school shoes.

Quality School Shoes will protect and prevent against long-term issues

The average school day is around 6.5 – 7 hours or 32.5 – 35 hours per week. During this time each pair will be subject to some severe tests; running, climbing, skipping, kneeling, scuffing, on and off for swimming and PE and so on.

Our feet have an average of 250,000 sweat glands per pair. A child’s foot will sweat more than an adults so their school shoes should be made from leather, with a leather or breathable fabric lining to release some of this moisture. A plastic, or PU material, will NOT allow this and result in wet, smelly feet. This allows bacteria to build up, causing foot health issues.

The foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments and 19 muscles. The bones will not fully harden (ossify) until they are 18-20 years old which means they are very vulnerable as are the ligaments and muscles holding everything together. A good quality, well “lasted” or constructed shoe will help to hold the foot in place and protect it during the school day. A poorly constructed, cheap, plastic shoe will fall short of doing this.

Lifespan of a Shoe School – “buy cheap, buy twice!”

If you have a particularly active child, boy or girl who is prone to scuffing their shoes (by the way, a scuffed shoe is not a faulty shoe, scuffs are caused by dragging on the ground, a shoe can’t scuff itself, but that’s for a different day) invest in a shoe with a good toe bumper. This will protect to toe area of the shoes and prolong their life.

A good quality patent leather will outlast a cheaply coated patent which will crack or flake quite quickly. Remember to check the material label in the shoe, look for the leather symbol.

The old mantra of “buy cheap, buy twice” is perfect in this case. A cheaply made shoe, of poor quality material, will not only be detrimental to your child’s feet, but will not stand up to the daily rigour it will undoubtably be subjected to.

“You are either in your bed or in your shoes, so it pays to invest in both” John Wildsmith

simon dernie / About Author

Experts in kids shoes. Little bRogues was set up in 2017 by Simon & Kate. Our shop is based in on Birch St, Windermere in the heart of The Lake District serving both local needs as well as catering for the tourist population from around the world.
Simon has worked in the children’s footwear industry since 2005 and Kate in education for 15 years. We source carefully from brands around the world focusing on good fitting, quality and stylish shoes for our market from first walkers to early teens, sizes 17 to 45.
We offer a fantastic one to one service with the child’s foot health at the centre of everything we do.

Comments (1)

I absolutely agree with Simon.Good quality,well fitting ,supportive shoes are a must have to protect the feet,maximize foot function and keep joints of the ankle,knees,hips and spine in the correct posture preventing problems in the future.Judith Hamer Bsc Podiatric Medicine.